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Looking for "younger" Alpha programmers

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    Looking for "younger" Alpha programmers

    I am working with a client who is working with a client who is concerned about Alpha's longevity.

    He is currently using a desktop app and needs to upgrade to a web app.

    But he is balking at doing the upgrade in Alpha because it is not as big a name as some other companies. I'm not sure he even knows what those companies are or what they cost, but he is still slowing things down.

    I have given him several Alpha contacts, but what he is really looking for is a company (in the U.S.) who is going to be around for a long time and is not relying on programmers who are over 50. (I and my partner in this project are both over 50).

    Basically, he wants to be sure that if I die tomorrow, he'll still be able to find support for his application and hopefully he won't have to worry about that support because they'll be in their 20s or 30s.

    How do you deal with that? I have a couple of people I work with, but my main person is older than I am and the other company I work with is in the U.K.

    Note: right now I am not looking for a partner in this. But I need some references of companies employing younger people doing great work in Alpha. And if things go well, then when I get out of the business for whatever reason, this client may be calling them for support!

    Suggestions?

    #2
    I think the right approach here is to ask how long your software will run in case Alphas license server goes down and what this maybe means to your customers business. When this is solved then comes the support question.

    Comment


      #3
      Right, because I want to give the client something ELSE to worry about ....

      Comment


        #4
        If I'm thinking right, there are options like Alpha's professional services as well as IADN that certainly provide support
        for Alpha software based applications.

        While it's true that I'm on the older side of life, I no longer do many of the things I did in my 20s and 30s (excessive drinking,
        venturing into blizzards for fun) and other fun but typically not wise activities (think bungee jumping or skydiving).

        Gregg
        https://paiza.io is a great site to test and share sql code

        Comment


          #5
          Dan Darkin (UK based company) start software employee is a young developer,

          The main question is: does your customer needs a custom application or not.
          if needs something highly customized, it doesn't matter the tool, taking over an application developed by someone else is very difficult. so even if he goes to a well known tools and his developer drop him, it will be difficult for someone else to take over.

          For how long is he expecting to have his application maintained? I believe that 10 years is already a lot, technology changes fast, you will be still in your 60's.
          You can easily maintain his application for at least 15 years.
          he can also contact "alpha anywhere" and they can at any time refer him to someone else. Not all alpha developers will die within 10 to 15 years (I hope so! lol)

          on another hand, how of an "enterprise development" is alpha anywhere?
          it is getting better now, but it is very difficult to upgrade from one version to another...

          Comment


            #6
            I have a little bit before hitting my 50's so I'll be doing this for a while. Custom business software is what I do and love.

            Paul, while Alpha undoubtedly has it's quirks it is very capable. I know of many apps out there, run by Alpha, that generate well into the seven and eight figures for it's owners. I'm happy to say I was apart of the development of several of them. Not sure what you mean exactly by "enterprise development". Multiple developers on one project, maybe? There are ways to handle that.
            Mike Brown - Contact Me
            Programmatic Technologies, LLC
            Programmatic-Technologies.com
            Independent Developer & Consultant​​

            Comment


              #7
              Start Software, as you say, is a UK based company, and I gave the client their information.

              Yes, this is a custom app and it does things you are not going to find off-the-shelf.

              At this point, I think the client is stalling because the price to change out of the desktop app and into a web based app is a bit high. Their desktop app still works, but they want some new features that are much better implemented in a web app.

              And their desktop app is not SQL based, so at the very least it needs to be moved into SQL. Which also costs money. They've been just doing maintenance for several years now and I think it's more about the money at this point than about support.

              They have been using this app in one form or another for something like 20 years and the company will continue on even if the current owner retires, so it could go for another 30-40 years or longer.

              So 10 years means nothing.

              Thank you for your input. Keep in mind, this isn't about ME - it's about what a client wants. I've made arguments and they are still using their current app and haven't tried moving anywhere else so far as I know.

              Comment


                #8
                Moving the data to sql is relatively simple (less expensive) than changing platforms.
                Gregg
                https://paiza.io is a great site to test and share sql code

                Comment


                  #9
                  Mike, Don't get me wrong I know Alpha is a very powerful tools, and very few products matches it's features.
                  I also have couple of applications using alpha anywhere.
                  What I mean by "not sure about the Enterprise development" is that quite often the application server needs to be restarted, sometimes I spend hours debugging an error while it is a bug in Alpha, Something is working then you upgrade to a new version and it stops, undocumented feature etc..
                  I think we all ran into these problems and we all hate them... Regardless of the price of the tool, when you say enterprise development it means the tools needs to be ROCK SOLID. This is not meant to criticize, it is just what I think, and as I said it is getting a lot better.

                  What I meant by 10 years, it that technology is not what it used to be, it is moving fast and customers wants new feature, if you google "what is the lifespan of a custom software" it will say 6-8 years.

                  English is not my first language so I apologize if something was misunderstood, I wanted to be constructive and not critical at all.

                  Comment


                    #10
                    Assuming Microsoft is "enterprise level", many of us are disgruntled by the "updates" they force on us (including rebooting the device) only to find out
                    there is a bug in the update.

                    As for the longevity of apps, we are still using an app I created in 2000, although I have made updates along the way including the introduction of sql.
                    Gregg
                    https://paiza.io is a great site to test and share sql code

                    Comment


                      #11
                      I would tell him to consider another solution first, I would remind him that you have served him well and believe you can going forward.
                      NWCOPRO: Nuisance Wildlife Control Software My Application: http://www.nwcopro.com "Without forgetting, we would have no memory at all...now what was I saying?"

                      Comment


                        #12
                        Guys, I appreciate all the feedback, I really do. But not once in these messages has anyone given me a U.S. Based company with young developers.

                        I am on the Alpha Software Message board asking a question that should be brain dead simple and I'm getting every answer/suggestion but the one I am looking for.

                        This is precisely what the customer is concerned about!

                        Even if this is just a stall from the customer, this really should not be that difficult a question to answer.

                        Comment


                          #13
                          Check out IADN.

                          https://iadn.com/

                          image.png
                          Alpha 5 Version 11
                          AA Build 2999, Build 4269, Current Build
                          DBF's and MySql
                          Desktop, Web on the Desktop and WEB

                          Ron Anusiewicz

                          Comment


                            #14
                            I have sent them information on IADN.

                            Comment


                              #15
                              Originally posted by lgrupido View Post
                              Guys, I appreciate all the feedback, I really do. But not once in these messages has anyone given me a U.S. Based company with young developers.

                              I am on the Alpha Software Message board asking a question that should be brain dead simple and I'm getting every answer/suggestion but the one I am looking for.

                              This is precisely what the customer is concerned about!

                              Even if this is just a stall from the customer, this really should not be that difficult a question to answer.
                              I think this is a problem with all legacy software. Developers get older and so do users.
                              New developers do not go to commercial full stack software. They use currently mainly open source solutions.


                              Good luck for your hunt.

                              Comment

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